At The DNC, Sen. Raphael Warnock Showcased The Persuasive Power Of Southern Black Church Traditions

Where’s a tambourine when you need one?

Georgia Sen. and Rev. Raphael Warnock had the crowd catching the spirit when he addressed the delegates on Day One of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night. His uplifting message of hope and healing provided a much-needed balm for a divided nation and showcased the persuasive power of southern Black church traditions on a global stage.

“A vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children and our prayers are stronger when we pray together. Together, we set out to heal the land,” Sen. Warnock told the cheering and tearful audience.

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Warnock called upon the traditions of Southern Black preachers to deliver a message that stirred emotions and spirits in Chicago and around the world. The watching crowd of delegates, press, and politicians became something of a congregation as Sen. Warnock transformed the DNC stage into a pulpit and delivered what felt like a sermon, even quoting scripture to fire up the audience and reignite faith in the nation and its institutions with his call to “heal the land.”

“I’m convinced tonight that we can lift the broken even as we climb,” Warnock said. “I’m convinced tonight that we can heal sick bodies, we can heal the wounds that divide us, we can heal a planet in peril. We can heal the land.”

This style of speaking using parables, scripture, alliteration, repetition and rhyme will be all too familiar to any PK (preacher’s kid) or anyone who’s ever attended a Black church on Easter Sunday. It’s a style of speech that is common among reverends and pastors who must use only their words to keep their congregation of Black parishioners fired up and faithful, reminding them of the promises of God and their responsibility to serve even as the world outside the church walls discriminates against them and tries to diminish their spirits.

Sen. Warnock’s skillful combination of the secular with the spiritual to address the American shouldn’t come as a surprise. The senator also serves as Senior Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the same church where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used to deliver stirring sermons and organize the masses. Now, a pastor from that church turned first Black senator of Georgia is calling the DNC and the nation at large to action in a way that only a Black preacher can.

“I’m inspired tonight… I’m inspired by the resilience of the American spirit that has rebounded from the pandemic and is holding at bay the forces that are trying to divide us,” Warnock said.

Note to self: Never speak after Senator Raphael Warnock pic.twitter.com/pZ7TFusol1

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) August 20, 2024

This comes in stark contrast to the Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, who weaponizes religious rhetoric on the campaign trail, inciting his evangelical base to riots and acts of bigotry. Trump even sells $60 branded “God Bless The USA” Bibles using the profits to fund his campaign and pay back his mounting legal fees resulting from multiple felony convictions that came down this year. Sen. Warnock called out Trump’s hypocritical use of the Bible to rally his base, encouraging the former president to “try reading it.” 

“It says ‘Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.’ It says, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ It says, ‘In as much you have done unto the least of these, you have done it also unto me,’” Warnock said, quoting scriptures from the biblical books of Micah, Mark, and Matthew.

Throughout his rousing speech, Sen. Warnock reminded the audience of the January 6 Capitol Insurrection during which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election of President Joe Biden. The insurrection took place the day after Warnock was elected the first Black senator of Georgia. Warnock called Trump’s candidacy a “plague on the American conscience” and beseeched Americans to choose wisely come election day.

“Elections are about the character of a country. We are the latest generation of Americans who get to decide what kind of country we want to be,” he said. “We must choose between the promise of January 5th and the peril of January 6th, a nation that embraces all of us or just some of us.”

Most pastors wrap up their Sunday service by giving the congregation a benediction, a bestowing of a blessing upon the listening crowd. Warnock’s benediction was a simple one: “Let’s heal this land,” reminding the watching crowd that we are all God’s children and it is our responsibility to care for one another.

“Let’s stand together, let’s work together, let’s organize together, let’s pray together, let’s stand together, let’s heal the land,” Warnock concluded to a standing ovation. “God bless you, keep the faith.”

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